Alaska Answers

Q. What about Employment? Uncharted Lands? What to see and do? Cannery Jobs? Statehood? Weather? These were some of the questions sent in by Stephanie, Laurence, Selena, Barb, Desaray, Ron, Cody and Anglea.

A. Well, to all of you listed above I would like to remind you of my archives. I have fully answered these questions (sometimes in more than one place). I ‘could’ answer them again, of course, but in the interests of not repeating myself, I’d like you to just scan back thru the previous postings – a.k.a. ‘Archives’! I have probably 50 different categories, but tried to by helpful by assigning them concise, accurate titles. It doesn’t take that long to scan back thru, and who knows? Your eye just might catch something of additional interest to you. Which might spark a new question from you to feed my column’s voracious appetite! -BJ

Q. I’d like to know – where does the oil from Alaska go? -Scott

A. The crude oil from Prudhoe Bay, a.k.a. the North Slope, travels 800 miles thru the pipeline down to the port of Valdez. There it is loaded onto ocean going tankers headed for the west coast of the lower 48. There are refineries up and down the west coast, first one I think is north of Seattle and called Cherry Point.

From the refineries, the product is distributed across the United States. I believe one of the Tesoro refineries supplies Hawaii.

About 10% of the crude oil is refined right within the state of Alaska, for consumption here. There is a refinery at North Pole, and at Valdez.

If I can be of further help, Scott, just let me know. -Bonnie J.

Q. Alex wants to know, What is Alaska’s biggest resource?

A. Perhaps I should look this up, but I really think I know. It would be oil as first, probably, and then military spending, tourism and fishing. Not sure in which order those would be, but they are all big.

It was 1968 when the biggest oilfield in North America was discovered in Prudhoe Bay. The oil was found on state land, so that meant that overnight the state was very wealthy, and remains so to this day; although it’s unlikely that such a large strike will ever be found again. I said unlikely. Not impossible. Discovering oil meant the building of a 9 billion dollar pipeline, and that provided the means to affluent living for thousands of people.

Our military population figures largely in boosting our economy, even with the downsizing of some bases. Quite a few military families, upon completing their military service, opt to stay and live in the state, getting jobs in the private sector and continuing to input the economy.

In the summer, we host over a million and a half tourists. Many private citizens, as well as businesses, profit greatly from this influx of visitors. I have two friends with bed and breakfaats in their homes and they make enough in the summer to totally pay their mortgages for the year round. And one of them even added a nice motor home in which they tour the lower 48 in the winter.

Our bountiful waters produce over 6 billion pounds of seafood yearly, so that is a big thing. Especially after the studies showing the superiority of wild Alaska salmon over farmed salmon, our salmon sales, already great, really leaped upward.

Hope this helps, Alex. Take care, Bonnie J.

Q. Can you tell me about the student to teacher ratio in your public schools? Thanks. -Sunday

A. I’m wondering if you are a prospective teacher planning to come here, or a parent coming and wondering what the educational opportunities are for your children? Well, either way, I think it is better news that in some parts of the U.S.A. Up here, in elementary schools, they strive for not more than 18 kids to 1 teacher in kindergarten; and as the ages go up, still try for not more than 20-25 kids per teacher. If there are slightly more kids, there is usually an assistant in the room.

There are a lot of private Christian schools up here too. They range from small to a few large ones, such as Anchorage Baptist Temple’s school, with full sports programs and all. My daughter, who has a Master’s degree in English Literature, teaches British Lit and grammar at a local Christian school, and she has just 12 students. So it varies greatly. You can pretty much find what you want. You will find even the small private schools try to hire qualified people with the proper degrees.

Alaska is very, very home school friendly also. You can get your own course of study from wherever you prefer, or if you choose to use state courses, the State of Alaska will furnish absolutely everything you need from art kits, lab equipment, electronic equipment, even down to paperclips! It doeesn’t matter if you live right on a school bus line, you can educate your child at home if you want and the state is very helpful. We know this firsthand.

There are also good opportunities for higher education. If you want to be a teacher, and are willing to work in a remote area when you complete your education, provision is made for forgiveness of your student loans. Another good opportunity is if you want a degree in biology and will work in the fisheries/wildlife arena. You can check all this out at a website called www.alaskaadvantage.state.ak.us or by calling their toll free # at 1-800-441-2962. Hope this helps. -Bonnie J.

Q. Are there any jobs for 14 year olds in Alaska? -Olivia

A. Well, Olivia, not a whole lot I don’t think. I know the minimum wage is $7.15. You sound like a nice ambitious girl. I like that. I know my grandson recently went thru several years of waiting to be old enough to get a ‘real’ job. Finally he is 18 and working steadily as a carpenter.

At 14 you could get a job in a grocery store as a bagger, and carry out person. I talked to our biggest supermarket and they said that legally they can hire a 14 yr old, with parental permission, although they don’t hire a lot of them because there are so many restrictions regarding young employment as to their scheduling, the # of hours they are permitted to work etc. But if a 14 yr old really wants to work, they can apply, and if they do a good job, with few absenses, etc. they are kept on.

You could also be hired on at fast food places. Also, many private individuals hire 14 yr olds for babysitting, mother’s helpers, housecleaning and yard/garden work. I myself have hired young people many times for gardening and yard work and always been satisfied with them. If you come to Alaska I wish for you good job hunting and a pleasant experience entering the working world. Take care, Bonnie J

Q. What towns in Alaska don’t have churches? I would like to come and start a church. Would like a building donated by the town and an apartment provided. -Lance

A. Well, Lance, I don’t think it’s gonna happen! Don’t mean to sound negative, but I really don’t think there is any town in Alaska without a church. I mean that. Even the small villages have their mission stations. Missionaries have been active and sowing churches in Alaska for many, many years. I believe that any town big enough to be able to donate a building and provide an apartment, is going to have about a couple dozen churches! Our town of Wasilla, which isn’t considered a big city, although nice sized, has about 58 churches. And I was just counting the ones listed in the phone book! I’m sure there are several that are not listed.

I am not saying that people in Alaska don’t need God. Of course they do, but if they don’t know God, it isn’t for lack of opportunities to do so. If you want to come to Alaska to work for God, you need to come knowing that you will probably have to work at a job to provide for your living and then be open to ideas and opportunities to do more of what you are thinking about. God bless, BJ

Q. What is the job market like for manufacturing and production workers? What does it cost to relocate to Alaska? -Gay

A. You know, I don’t believe that Alaska is just a hotbed for manufacturing and production. We don’t have factories, for instance, like you would find on the east coast and other parts of the country. The thing that comes closest to ‘production’ work that I can think of would be the fish canneries, but of course that is very seasonal. I believe there are a few small companies who make camper shells for on the back of pickups. You can look at the state jobsite at www.jobs.state.ak.us and perhaps get an idea of what is available.

As to the cost of moving to Alaska, that really depends on so many things. Where are you coming from? What are you bringing with you? That type of thing. With the price of gas these days, it can be a bit pricey as we are about 2,400 miles from Seattle. There is a good website at www.uhaul.com where you can actually find costs to bring a U Haul truck or van from anywhere in the U. S. That should get you started. We have found that an average of $50-$60. a nite for motels is about right on the Alcan. Of course, we look for the lower priced, yet clean ones. We usually do things to cut our costs of travel a bit. Like carry cereal and paper bowls and milk with us for ‘breakfast’….then make sandwiches in the car for lunch. In the evening we stop in a real restaurant and have ‘real’ food! Ahhhhh…that tastes good! Take care, Bonnie J.

Q. I’m thinking of moving to Alaska, with my long time boyfriend and our small child. Someone who used to live up there told me if you are a permanent resident you receive funds from the state. How much do you receive and how often? -Christina

A. They were referring to our Permanent Fund Divident, or PFD. It is monies from the oil revenues of which a portion is returned to the people. It is a yearly dividend, paid in October, and you have to be here one full year before you apply in January. It is always somewhere between maybe $800. and $1800; usually around a thousand. This amount could change of course. It just depends on what the return is on the oil monies invested. For more information you can look at their website which is www.pfd.state.ak.us Hope this helps.

Q. What is the minimum wage? -Rosanny

A. The minimum wage is currently $7.15 an hour. How does that compare to where y ou are? I guess it can be different in different parts of the country, so is apparently a state’s rights issue. Generally speaking, the cost of living is higher here, but most jobs provide higher wages than the lower 48 also, so you have to factor that in. Plus, don’t forget the allure of living in such a uniquely different place!

Q. Was my father Andrew Joseph Carrigan the postmaster of Nome, Alaska? He was in Nome from 1900 to 1905, after being in Dawson since the spring of 1898. -Ralph

A. Ralph, I could not find proof that your dad was the postmaster in Nome during that period. With the help of Lloussac Library in Anchorage, I was able to unearth a book called – believe it or not – 120 Years of Alaska Postmasters (1867-1987) by Ora B. Dickerson. I swear, this made me think there is a book for everything!

For Nome, on the page the library faxed me, they list postmasters from 1899 thru 1963. No where is your dad’s name listed. During 1900 – 1905 they say that a man named Joseph Wright was postmaster in 1900 and then someone named Frank W. Stanton served from 1901 to October, 1907.

If you have always believed he was the postmaster, and this info disagrees with that, have you considered the following? Perhaps he was ‘acting postmaster’ for a part of that time due to circumstances of which we dont know. Maybe he was a postal clerk or a 2nd in command? Are you sure it was Nome? Could it have been an outlying village? I’m assuming your father is no longer alive, but is there perhaps another relative who could enlighten you further? Well, whatever he was, he was a tough, courageous and very hardy man to have lived in Nome! -Bonnie J.